The Life and Times of Ginny Weasley
by CrazyBookChick
Summary: She'd never given up on him. Not really. Drabbles from Ginny's POV examining her relationship with Harry, taking place throughout the series. Cannon to books.
1. Chapter 1

**I've always been curious to hear more from Ginny's side of the story, so these are just some musings from her perspective throughout some major points in the series. It doesn't diverge from cannon at all, though it may add to it in some places where we don't have any insight into Ginny's thoughts or feelings. I'll probably be updating weekly, every Monday until the story's finished, though I'm not sure how many chapters it'll have total. I do plan to cover all the way through the end of the series, and chapters will be in chronological order. Read and review, or don't, I don't really care. These were really just written for my own enjoyment, and I decided I'd just as well share them as not, so they haven't been beta'd at all. Still, hope you enjoy!**

 **Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Part One. Takes place immediately after Harry's arrival at the Burrow.**

Harry Potter was in the kitchen. Her kitchen. Harry Potter. Oh, Merlin. She paced back and forth in her bedroom.

It wouldn't be so bad, except that she was sure she had just made a complete idiot of herself in front of the boy she considered all but perfect. No one had said a word about his coming, so when she came down the stairs in an old tattered nightgown to find the boy of her _dreams_ standing there, grinning at her, she'd done the most embarrassing thing she considered possible: let out a mortified squeak and ran away. _Ran away._ Ginny Weasley didn't run away from things. Certainly not from boys. She had six older brothers, for heaven's sake!

She groaned and flopped back on to her bed. How was she ever supposed to face him now? Their first proper meeting and she'd behaved like a complete ninny.

To be fair, it would have been very hard not to be impressed by Harry Potter. She'd grown up hearing about him as a hero, the savior of their world. She'd seen him up close last year, and even without knowing who he was, she'd thought he was very handsome, with beautiful green eyes, casually messy black hair and a smile that lit up his whole face. Knowing what she knew now about his past made that smile all the more beautiful, for she couldn't even imagine the suffering he'd been through.

And all year long, she'd received Ron's letters detailing his adventures and his wonderful new friendship with the Boy Who Lived. How he was brave and loyal, not arrogant, even though everyone in the school treated him like a celebrity, how he was the youngest player in a century to be allowed on a house quidditch team and was absolutely brilliant, how he'd shut down that awful Malfoy boy right away in favor of Ron, despite Ron's second hand robes and Malfoy's obviously high standing in the wizard world. How he'd risked his life to stop You Know Who when no one else believed him.

Over the last year, Harry Potter had become almost mythical in her mind, as she knew he was in the minds of so many witches and wizards across the country. But to her, he was different. They only knew that he had lived when Voldemort tried to kill him, but she knew, or at least had an idea, who he was as a person. And that was even more impressive, because now she knew that he was everything the wizarding world hoped he was and more. Not just brave and noble, but also kind and modest and loyal.

She sighed. Sitting up here dreaming about how perfect he was wasn't going to make it any easier to go down those stairs and face the real boy waiting below. She knew she'd have to do it sometime; based on the trunks he'd brought with him, he'd be staying for a while.

Just as she began to finally marshal her courage, she heard footsteps coming up the stairs and her brother's voice saying "Come on, I'll show you to my room." She peaked out of her room just in time to catch a pair of emerald green eyes looking at the door curiously, before slamming it shut and blushing scarlet. Well. She supposed there'd be time to meet him properly later.

 **As I said, hope you liked it. Next chapter will be up next week, and it'll be quite a bit longer than this one.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Welcome back, everyone! Just a heads up that this chapter pulls much more directly from the book than the previous chapter, some of it word for word. I think it's kind of inevitable in this type of story, but I'm not totally sure how I feel about it, so let me know in the comments what you think!**

 **Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Part Two: takes place after Ginny wakes up in the chamber to find she's been rescued by Harry.**

Everything hurt. Everything was groggy. She didn't know where she was, just that it was dark and cold and damp. She looked around, realizing almost immediately where she must be. The Chamber of Secrets. Her eyes landed first on the giant snake that lay dead in the middle of the chamber, and then on her savior. She supposed she should have been more surprised than she was to see Harry Potter, robes soaked in blood though he appeared uninjured, holding the diary that had started all this in the first place. She should have been surprised, but it felt like part of her had expected this all along.

Of course he had saved her, that's who he was. Of course he had been strong where she was weak, and of course her weakness had ended up putting the boy she least wanted to hurt in mortal peril. A wave of shame swept over her. How could she ever have trusted that diary?

Without even realizing, she had started babbling, trying desperately to explain, to beg for his forgiveness. "Harry- oh Harry- I tried to tell you at b-breakfast, but I c- _couldn't_ say it in front of Percy - it was _me_ , Harry- but I- I swear I d-didn't mean to- R-Riddle made me, he t-took me over- and- _how_ did you kill that- that thing? W-where's Riddle? The last thing I r-remember is him coming out of the diary-"

"It's all right, Riddle's finished. Look! Him _and_ the basilisk. C'mon Ginny, let's get out of here-" A new wave of shame hit her. He had just fought Riddle and the basilisk and here he was, comforting her, who absolutely did _not_ deserve comforting after messing up so spectacularly.

As he helped her up, a new fear swelled within her. "I'm going to be expelled! I've looked forward to coming to Hogwarts ever since B-Bill came and n-now I'll have to leave and- _w-what'll Mum and Dad say_?" She cried and panicked and hated herself in turn as she and Harry followed what appeared to be a phoenix over the dead snake, through a pair of great stone doors and into a tunnel.

They walked on, Ginny lost in misery, until Harry startled her from her gloom by calling out "Ron! Ginny's okay! I've got her!" She realized for the first time she could hear faint noises from further down the tunnel, though she couldn't yet see the source. They both started to run towards the sound of Ron giving a strangled cheer from somewhere ahead of them. She didn't know why, but it hadn't occurred to her that Ron would be down here with him. She started to cry even harder thinking of how disappointed her older brother was sure to be with her. She'd risked his life along with his best friend's with her foolishness, and she was sure that neither he nor anyone else would forgive her.

They rounded a corner to find Ron's face poking through a small hole in what appeared to have been a collapse in the tunnel. He helped them through, and she saw Professor Lockhart at the far end of the small room with him, humming absentmindedly. She felt Ron's arms close around her, and cried even harder at the thought of how soon she'd have to confess everything to him as well.

Ron was questioning Harry, but, seeming to realize that the distressed girl couldn't bear much more at the moment, Harry put him off, asking about Lockhart instead. The group approached him, as Ron explained "His memory's gone. The Memory Charm backfired. Hit him instead of us. Hasn't got a clue who he is, or where he is, or who we are. I told him to come and wait here. He's a danger to himself."

Ginny stared at the professor, and, for a moment, forgot how horrible her own behavior had been in light of the revelation that her Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher had apparently tried to wipe Harry and Ron's memories. She felt an anger swelling up that he could turn on his own students like that, and would have been of a mind to hex him for attacking Harry Potter had she not herself done something so much worse.

Her chain of thought was broken by the sound of her own name. Harry told her to take Ron's hand, and told Lockhart to take hers. He then grabbed Ron's free hand in one of his own, and the phoenix's tail feathers in the other. Suddenly, she felt impossibly light and then they were flying through the air, up and out of the tunnel. They emerged in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, with the ghost staring curiously at them. "You're alive," she said blankly to Harry.

"No need to sound so disappointed."

"Oh, well… I'd just been thinking… if you had died, you'd have been welcome to share my toilet," replied a blushing Myrtle.

As the left the bathroom, Ron turned a disgruntled look at Harry. "Urgh! Harry! I think Myrtle's grown _fond_ of you! You've got competition, Ginny!" But she was too upset to even bother being embarrassed now. As they followed the phoenix to Professor McGonagall's office, Ginny braced herself.

Inside sat her mother and father, accompanied by Professor's McGonagall and, to her surprise, Dumbledore. A fresh wave of dread rose inside her, but before anyone could say anything else, her mother was running towards her screaming "Ginny!" and both of her parents had her wrapped in a tight hug. After a moment, Mrs. Weasley moved on to Ron and Harry, throwing her arms around them and exclaiming "You saved her! You saved her! _How_ did you do it?"

Now, she knew, the whole, awful story was about to unfold. She sat in silence as Harry told his tale, from hearing the voice of the Basilisk in the walls to slowly piecing together what the monster was that was attacking students and eventually guessing that the bathroom still haunted by the monster's last victim, Moaning Myrtle, was also where the entrance to the chamber would be. He explained how he and Ron had made it into the chamber, how Lockhart had attacked them, causing the collapse of part of the tunnel and leaving Harry to go on ahead alone, and how Fawkes (which she learned was the name of the phoenix who had been with Harry) had arrived with the sorting hat just in time, allowing him to pull the sword from it and kill the basilisk. He stopped, she noticed, short of mentioning anything to do with her treachery or Riddle's diary.

He looked over at her, still in her mother's arms, and she could see the worry on his face at the prospect of telling them the bits of the story that would make it clear just how guilty she truly was. He looked back at Dumbledore, half pleadingly, as if hoping he could save Ginny from punishment by ending his story there. In that moment she didn't think it was possible to have loved him more, and a deep sense of gratitude and appreciation swept through her. It felt as though just the thought that he didn't blame her gave her strength. She took a breath and prepared to begin her story.

As it turned out, she didn't need to. Before she could get the first word out, Dumbledore spoke. "What interests _me_ most is how Lord Voldemort managed to enchant Ginny, when my sources tell me he is currently hiding in the forests of Albania."

She could hardly comprehend what he had just said, or what it meant for her future.

"W-what's that? _You-Know-Who?_ En-enchant _Ginny_? But Ginny's not… Ginny hasn't been… has she?" Her father sounded too stunned to make out what Dumbledore was saying. She had to admit, even having lived it she didn't understand much better.

Now Harry chimed in. "It was this diary. Riddle wrote it when he was sixteen…." He passed the diary to Dumbledore, now thoroughly tattered and with a hole burnt through it.

"Brilliant," Dumbledore murmured. "Of course, he was probably the most brilliant student Hogwarts has ever seen." He turned to face her and her parents. "Very few people know that Lord Voldemort was once called Tom Riddle. I taught him myself, fifty years ago, at Hogwarts. He disappeared after leaving the school…traveled far and wide… sank so deeply into the Dark Arts, consorted with the very worst of our kind, underwent so many dangerous, magical transformations, that when he resurfaced as Lord Voldemort, he was barely recognizable. Hardly anyone connected Lord Voldemort with the clever, handsome boy who was once Head Boy here." Ginny's head was spinning at Dumbledore's words.

"But, Ginny," said her mother. "What's our Ginny got to do with- with- _him_?"

She started crying again, the full weight of what had happened sinking down over her. "His d-diary! I've b-been writing in it, and he's been w-writing back all year-"

Her father looked horrified. " _Ginny!_ Haven't I taught you _anything_? What have I always told you? Never trust anything that can think for itself _if you can't see where it keeps its brain_. Why didn't you show the diary to me, or your mother? A suspicious object like that, it was clearly full of Dark Magic-"

She had devolved back into full-fledged sobs again by now. "I d-didn't know. I found it inside one of the books Mum got me. I th-thought someone had just left it in there and forgotten about it-"

She was interrupted by Professor Dumbledore. "Miss Weasley should go up to the hospital wing right away. This has been a terrible ordeal for her. There will be no punishment. Older and wiser wizards than she have been hoodwinked by Lord Voldemort." Relief swept through her when he said those words. It seemed too good to even be real, and so much better than she deserved. Her father was right, she should have known better. She glanced over at Harry, and saw he looked immensely relieved, too.

"You will find that Madam Pomfrey is still awake. She's just giving out Mandrake juice- I daresay the basilisk's victims will be waking up any moment."

At this point, Ron spoke for the first time since entering the office. "So Hermione's okay!"

Dumbledore looked directly at her as he answered. "There has been no lasting harm done, Ginny."

With that, her parents led her out of the room and up to the hospital wing, leaving Harry, Ron and Lockhart with Dumbledore and McGonagall. At another time, she would have put up a fight; she was, after all, intensely curious about what else would be said between them. She wanted to know where the diary had come from, what it meant that Voldemort still had the power to possess people more than a decade after he was supposed to have "died", and what it meant that Harry had just come face to face with his parents' murderer for the third time in his life. But as it was, she didn't have the heart to argue. She was weak and exhausted, and still so overwhelmingly relieved at not being expelled that she was in no mood to push her luck.

Though she had no physical injuries to mention, her parents and Madame Pomfrey were still insistent that she spend the night in the hospital wing where they could keep an eye on her. By the time she had bathed and put on fresh pajamas, she was so tired she thought she might fall over, and, for the first time in a long time, fell into a restful sleep free of nightmares.

When she finally woke up, she sensed it must be a long time later. She looked over to find her parents resting next to her. She could see out the windows in the hospital wing that it was pitch dark outside. She felt a little stiff, but surprisingly alert; her mind was racing with the events of the last day. It was even worse than she had imagined; not only was she the one responsible for the attacks, but Voldemort himself had been the one making her carry them out. She shivered at the thought, resolving to never be so stupid again, and tried to turn her mind to something else.

The first thing her thoughts touched on was, no surprise, Harry Potter. He had saved her. What's more, he didn't blame her, and had tried to protect her from the anger of her parents and Dumbledore. She'd seen the relief flood his face when he realized she wasn't about to be expelled, and didn't quite know what to make of it. It seemed too much to ask for that he be at all concerned what happened to her now. He'd already done more for her than she had any right to expect; he'd risked his own life to save hers and they had very nearly both ended up dead in the chamber. But he did seem to care that she not be blamed.

And that was when she realized something extraordinary about Harry. It wasn't just that he was good and kind and loyal, there was more than that. He was accepting. He genuinely didn't blame her for what had happened, even as she had blamed herself. He believed the best in her, and never believed, for one second, that she wouldn't have stopped it if she could have. He forgave her without question, because in his eyes she didn't need forgiving, and she suspected this was how he was towards everyone.

She'd seen him take so much responsibility on himself, though none of it was his fault in the first place, and all the while never thinking to expect the same courage and goodness from those around him. She supposed there were some who would call this arrogance, but to her it was more clear than ever before exactly the kind of person Harry would become. She knew, deep down, that he was destined to be the hero. It was who he was. She'd seen it first hand, now, and wondered idly if he knew that about himself.

Suddenly, she felt very tired again. She lay back in her bed and closed her eyes. The last thing she thought of before she fell asleep was a pair of beautiful emerald eyes.

 **Thanks for reading, those of you who stuck around. As I mentioned before, this one pulls much more from the book, so I think it's not terribly original, but it was still fun to write. I wasn't totally sure about pulling this much verbatim from the book, but since it technically isn't an original story, I guess it was inevitable. I wasn't quite sure how best to end this chapter, so I'd be happy to hear any thoughts/suggestions on the ending, and on the chapter in general. Next chapter will be up next Monday. Cheers!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Happy Monday, everyone. Shorter chapter this week, and a bit lighter. Hope you enjoy!**

 **Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Part One: takes place in The Leaky Cauldron after Harry and the Weasleys meet up before departing for Hogwarts.**

Ginny collapsed back on to her bed. She could hear Ron and Percy arguing next door, and grouchily wondered how much trouble she'd get in for hexing one (or both) of them. After all, Harry'd blown up his aunt and gotten away with it… But, she supposed, that had been an accident, and based on what she'd picked up from his conversations with Ron and Hermione, he'd had far worse provocation than bickering neighbors. She sighed, deciding she'd just have to deal with it.

Really, though, what did they have to be upset about? Percy was Head Boy and had his perfect little girlfriend waiting for him, and Ron had just been reunited with his two best friends, and was sure to be greeted like a hero when he returned to school thanks to the part he'd played in defeating the basilisk at the end of last year. (Not that he'd actually done anything, she thought irritably, except clear a tunnel and wait for Harry to finish risking his life.) She, on the other hand, had made a fool out of herself earlier that day in front of a boy she adored with her inability to do more than stare and blush whenever they were in a room together, not to mention having to worry about her own reception back at Hogwarts.

She wasn't sure how many people knew exactly what had happened last year with Riddle's diary and the Chamber of Secrets, and though no one had been unkind about it before term ended last June, she had the lingering fear that they may have changed their minds by the time school started up again. What if they'd decided that she was a horrible person for allowing herself to get sucked in to the whole mess that had nearly killed resident hero Harry Potter? Or worse, that she was a foolish ninny too weak and silly to defend herself? She had been foolish, of course, but she would hate for her mistakes last year to define her for the rest of her time at Hogwarts.

That anxiety had lurked over her head all summer. She wanted to be brave and strong, a true Gryffindor like the older brothers, but instead, her first year at Hogwarts had been a terrific disaster, and she had been the one who needed saving. She hated the idea that people would think she was weak. She'd fought like hell growing up to convince _six_ older brothers to take her seriously, and the last thing she wanted to do was go through the same thing all over again, this time with the whole castle full of students.

 _It's not just_ them _you're worried about,_ the voice in the back of her mind taunted her. _It's_ him. _The one you_ really _wanted to take you seriously. And now he's never going to._

She sighed. However much she might wish too, she couldn't deny the truth. She _had_ wanted Harry Potter to see her as someone impressive, but how could he how? He'd beaten You-Know-Who for the first time when he was just a year old, and had done it twice since then. His first year at Hogwarts, he had faced down Voldemort and saved the Sorcerer's Stone. Her first year, she'd allowed herself to become a pawn for Voldemort, and as a result had let him attack others before almost dying herself. It wasn't like she had expected that she would immediately distinguish herself as some kind of hero at Hogwarts, but just holding her own would have been nice.

And, honestly, her life would be so much easier right now if Harry Potter weren't so bloody perfect. She was immensely grateful that he'd saved her, but did he have to be so fanciable while doing it? How was she supposed to _not_ be infatuated? If he had been rude, or contemptuous, or if he had thrown her under the bus while explaining to the headmaster what had happened last year, she was sure she would be able to act normally around him now. But instead, he'd been selfless, brave, and unfailingly kind to her, never blaming her or looking down on her for the role she'd played in the whole mess. The fact that he didn't think any less of her was both an enormous comfort, and an enormous inconvenience, because now she found herself more in love with him than ever.

It seemed she was destined for another year of admiring the Boy Who Lived from afar, because how could she possibly _speak_ to him now, let alone, make a serious go at convincing him to like her as more than his best friend's little sister?

Deciding grumpily that she'd have plenty of time to mull on her problems in the future, as they weren't likely to go away any time soon, she extinguished the light and, with some effort, found sleep.

 **Kind of went back to the style of the first chapter, with more of Ginny's musings and a looser connection to what's happening in the plot of the books at the time. Let me know which style you prefer! And again, apologies for the awkward ending; those just are not a strong suit for me. I should note that this also presumes that Ginny doesn't know Sirius Black is supposed to be after Harry yet. I feel like that's a pretty safe assumption, so I decided to go with it, just because I didn't want to have her dwell too much on Sirius at this point. As always, next chapter will be up a week from today.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello, darlings! Just want to let you know right off the bat that after this chapter, the next two might be a bit delayed. I'll be on vacation for the next two weeks, and I'm not sure what the wifi situation will be like, but I have them written, so hopefully they should be posted like usual on Mondays.**

 **Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Part Two: takes place after Sirius has managed to get into the school and tried to get into the Gryffindor common room.**

She tries to sleep, she really does, but it's just not that easy. Lying there on the floor of the Great Hall, she can't help it that her mind is flying over the events of that day. Sirius Black had somehow managed to break into Hogwarts and tried to get into the Gryffindor common room. She was pretty sure that everyone knew what he was after. By now, the rumors had made their way around the school. They'd started with a few students who had parents in the ministry with loose lips, until the whole castle had heard the news that Sirius Black, the mad escaped murderer and former Death Eater, was after Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived.

So many things made sense to her when she found out. She understood why they had been given Ministry cars to get to the train (something they had definitely never had before,) why there were such intense security measure focused on Hogwarts specifically rather than out scouring the country for any sign of Black. It also answered the question of what her father had been telling him on Platform 9 ¾ before they left for Hogwarts. She wondered how he'd handled this information. He hadn't seemed too troubled by it from what she'd seen.

She wished she could be so calm. The knowledge that You Know Who's most devout supporter was targeting her hero had kept her up at night. Her only comfort was that Dumbledore was here, and so surely nothing could touch him inside the castle. But now it seemed that wasn't so. If Black had managed to get inside, to get so close to Harry already, how could anyone be sure that he was safe?

She looked over to where Harry, Ron and Hermione lay, a few feet away. Somehow, even though it had to be nearly 3 o'clock in the morning, she was pretty sure he wasn't sleeping either. As she faced him, trying to imagine what was going through his head right now, she saw Dumbledore approach her brother Percy, and they began to whisper.

"Any sign of him, Professor?"

"No. All well here?" Dumbledore replied softly. Her stomach dropped. So he was still out there, who knows where, and would certainly try again. She strained to hear what they were saying.

"Everything under control, sir," Percy was reassuring the headmaster.

"Good. There's no point moving them all now. I've found a temporary guardian for the Gryffindor portrait hole. You'll be able to move them back in tomorrow."

"And the Fat Lady, sir?"

"Hiding in a map of Argyllshire on the second floor. Apparently she refused to let Black in without the password, so he attacked. She's still very distressed, but once she's calmed down, I'll have Mr. Filch restore her."

She heard the door open, and a new set of footsteps approached. "Headmaster?" It was Snape. "The whole of the third floor has been searched. He's not there. And Filch has done the dungeons; nothing there either."

"What about the Astronomy Tower? Professor Trelawney's room? The Owlery?"

"All searched…"

"Very well, Severus. I didn't really expect Black to linger." He sounded very weary, though. She had never heard Dumbledore sound so resigned, and it frightened her.

"Have you any theory as to how he got in, Professor?" asked Snape.

"Many, Severus, each of them as unlikely as the next." That truly sent a jolt of fear through her. Dumbledore was the most brilliant wizard there was, everyone knew it, and if he didn't know how Black had done it, then maybe she was wrong to think that Harry was protected at Hogwarts.

"You remember the conversation we had, Headmaster, just before – ah – the start of term?" Snape asked, so quietly she had to hold her breath to hear.

"I do, Severus." An unspoken warning was plain in his tone.

"It seems – almost impossible – that Black could have entered the school without inside help. I did express my concerns when you appointed -" She was listening very intently, now. The only people Dumbledore had appointed this year were Hagrid and Professor Lupin, but Hagrid had been here for ages. Why would Snape think Lupin would help Sirius Black get into Hogwarts?

"I do not believe a single person inside this castle would have helped Black enter it." His tone was firm. "I must go down to the dementors. I said I would inform them when our search was complete." It was clear that he meant for this to be the end of the conversation.

Ginny rolled over as quietly as she could. What she had just heard filled her head. She didn't know what to make of Snape's apparent suspicion of Lupin. Was it just because Snape wanted his job, and because he was an outsider? That must be it, because she couldn't come up with any other reason not to trust him.

To be fair, she thought, it was true that the last two Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers had both ended up attacking students. Everyone knew Hogwarts did not have a good track record in that department. A niggle of fear formed at the back of her mind. What if Snape was right and Lupin was helping Black? What if Dumbledore was wrong to trust him, as he had been wrong to trust Quirrell and Lockhart?

But Lupin hardly seemed the type for that. Older students said that it was the first time they were actually learning how to defend themselves against the Dark Arts after the string of shoddy teachers they'd had before. Unlike Quirrell and Lockhart before him, Professor Lupin was a brilliant teacher, and a friendly person. Though she hadn't ever met Professor Quirrell herself, she had heard from her brothers that he wasn't well liked, and despite the adoration of much of the female student body, no one could say that Lockhart had been much better in the teaching department. But then, for all people may have disliked Quirrell, she'd gotten the impression from Ron that his working for Voldemort had been a complete surprise to everyone but Snape. So if he'd been right once…

She couldn't believe it, though. Lupin was too good a teacher, and Snape was not exactly a fair judge of character. He was horrible to all the Gryffindors, ignored the Slytherin bullies, and singled out special students, some to torment, and others to favor. She knew for a fact that he loathed Harry, so she wasn't particularly inclined to believe that his apparent concern for his welfare when it came to Sirius Black was in any way genuine. And she definitely believed Dumbledore's judgement as a whole was better, and less biased, and he certainly seemed to take more of an interest in Harry's wellbeing. Snape was probably just hoping Dumbledore would sack Lupin so he could take his job. Slimy git.

But where did that leave things? Dumbledore didn't seem to have any very substantial theories of his own as to how Black had made it into the castle. Her mind seemed to be spinning in circles. She wondered if she should say something to Harry, Ron and Hermione about what she'd overheard. But what had she overheard, really? Snape suspected Lupin, and Dumbledore was sure he was innocent. If she was choosing to trust Dumbledore's judgement, then there was nothing to tell, and between the two professors, Dumbledore still seemed more worthy of trust, even if he had missed the signs once before.

And even if she wanted to tell them, would they listen? Ron definitely wouldn't, if she was judging by history, and this seemed like information that would make Hermione exceedingly nervous and flustered, since it called into question the absolute authorities of at least one of her teachers. That only left Harry, and as far as she was concerned, he had quite enough on his plate.

Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more to that exchange that had been left unsaid. She silently decided that while she wasn't going to say anything to the others just yet, she couldn't just forget what she'd heard. She would keep an eye on Snape and Lupin, and if she learned anything else, she'd tell someone immediately. For now, though, it seemed there was nothing to do but wait.

 **So I started this chapter not really knowing where it would go, and here is the result. I personally think Ginny would be smart enough to figure out Lupin's secret the same way Hermione did (after all, being mysteriously "sick" on the full moon combined with Snape's lecture on werewolves isn't super subtle if you're actually paying attention,) but I'm interested to see what you think. Hopefully I'll succeed at reconciling this knowledge with the cannon in a way that makes sense. Hope to see you all next Monday!**

 **Also, in case anyone missed it up front, the next two chapters may be delayed or uploaded at weird times because I'll be on vacation. They are already written, though, so if you don't see them on Monday, the worst case scenario will be that I just post two at once when I get back.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Welcome back, dearies! This chapter, as with the last one, is a bit further outside the purview of the cannon, so don't crucify me. It shouldn't contradict or change anything in the original, just hopefully add a little interest in a different area of the story. Enjoy!**

 **Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Part Three: After Snape has taken over Lupin's class.**

Ginny walked into the common room that Friday with a lot on her mind. Snape had taken Lupin's classes that day, and she wasn't sure what to think about it. He'd said Lupin was ill, and she didn't have trouble believing it; he'd looked worn down ever since she first met him. But what did it mean that Snape of all people was teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts in his absence? Everyone knew Dumbledore wouldn't let him have the job outright, so why let him teach it now? Was Dumbledore's trust in Lupin wavering? Or was it really just what it seemed, Snape filling in in a pinch? If that was the case, she imagined being so close to his dream job would only make Snape push harder to remove Lupin permanently.

She saw Hermione sitting by herself near the fire and sat down next to her, peering at the essay she had in front of her.

"Oh, Snape's making you do werewolves, too? We got the same essay. Irritating, we haven't even had Lupin _mention_ them yet."

Hermione seemed to break from a trance.

"Yes, we weren't due to start them so soon either. Odd that he'd assign them to both years." She seemed to be staring into space again. "Almost like he's trying…" she trailed off.

"What?" Ginny asked, feeling like she was missing something obvious.

"Nothing. I should get working on this. Do you need any help on yours?"

"No, thanks Hermione, I've got a History of Magic essay to do first." She settled into her chair and pulled out the assignment, still absentmindedly pondering the Defense Against the Dark Arts essay. If she was looking for odd behavior from Snape or Lupin, she had plenty of it today. Lupin always looked at least a bit under the weather, but he didn't seem them type to miss class for anything other than a serious illness, and it was hard to imagine something Madame Pomfrey couldn't cure in a snap. And Snape was even surlier than usual, which was especially odd since he was getting the chance to teach his favorite class.

And then he assigned at least two of his classes the same essay on a subject seemingly out of the clear blue sky. Was it just a topic that he liked? He had seemed so keen on it, though, telling them how important it was to be able to recognize the signs of lycanthropy…. Maybe he was trying to tell them something.

She shook her head. No explanation seemed forthcoming, and she really did have to work on that History of Magic assignment.

* * *

Later that night, as Ginny Weasley lay in bed, a strange dream drifted through her mind. She was in the Forbidden Forest and a huge wolf was staring at her calmly. She was paralyzed with terror; it was so close there was no way she could outrun it.

Suddenly, Snape's voice came from behind her. "Can't even recognize a werewolf when it's staring you in the face." His voice reeked with contempt.

She spun around, looking from the wolf, to Snape and back again. But the wolf was changing now, she could see it was becoming more human every moment…

She sprung out of bed, breathless, suddenly completely awake. Through her window, she saw the full moon. She felt something, at the edge of her mind pushing in. The werewolf in her dream, it had been a person, and she was sure that Snape had known… Suddenly, it hit her like a bolt of lightning. Lupin.

Her mind was whirring. Tonight was the full moon, and Lupin was too sick to teach his classes. Snape, who clearly hated the man, pressing all his students on how to _recognize a werewolf_. Lupin's clothes were shabby, like he had trouble finding work. It would also explain why Snape didn't trust him; werewolves were often unwelcome where ever they went, and widely mistrusted.

And it explained why Dumbledore did. Unlike Snape, he wasn't the type to judge someone on anything other than character, and from everything she'd seen, Lupin's character was unimpeachable. She decided in that moment that even if it was true, she trusted Lupin. One thing that he couldn't control didn't make him any less trustworthy, and it certainly didn't mean he was helping Sirius Black. In her mind, it was more tragic than anything else.

She'd just have to watch. It would be easier now that she knew what she was looking for. On every full moon from now on, she'd keep an eye on Lupin, and on Snape. If her theory was right, it would be pretty obvious.

Finally having a solid plan in her mind, she laid back down and found that sleep came easier that night than it had in weeks.

 **Boom. Still technically Monday in Hawaii. (For anyone who missed it last week, I'm on vacation, so this chapter and the next one are at risk of delay.) I've spent almost all of today on a plane, so I really didn't think I'd make it, but I'm counting this as a win, even if it's Tuesday for everyone else in the world.**

 **So short chapter today, just filling in some blanks left from my last chapter. It also happens to be my first time writing original dialogue, so let me know what you think. Aloha!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Welcome back, everyone who is still with us. Thanks for sticking around! I know, I missed a week on vacation AND I'm a day late. I am a bad author. *insert chastised facial expression here***

 **I'm moving on to Goblet of Fire this chapter. Looking through the rest of Prisoner of Azkaban, Ginny's involvement is so minimal, there's nothing else from that book that I think would be super interesting to rehash from her POV, so sorry if there's something someone wanted to see from that book. Feel free to let me know in the comments, I might be willing to post some bonus chapters upon request.**

 **Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Part One: Takes place immediately after Harry's name comes out of the Goblet.**

The whole room seemed frozen in a state of shock. Harry Potter was the fourth Tri-Wizard Champion. It was impossible, and yet… It seemed strange that they had all believed that such a grand display of heroics could take place without Harry getting sucked in somehow. That was just how his life went, apparently. Ginny Weasley had believed for years that he was destined to be the hero.

She, for one, didn't believe he'd put his name in, but within seconds chatter started around the hall wondering how he'd done it. She wouldn't believe that he would do something like that. He didn't want fame or glory; anyone could see that attention like that made him uncomfortable.

And the Triwizard Tournament was dangerous. So what did it mean that his name had just come out of the Goblet of Fire? Harry had certainly never shied away from danger before, but he didn't go out looking for it. From what she'd seen in the time she'd known him, danger seemed to have a pretty good way of finding Harry Potter.

As Harry left the room with Dumbledore, Ron exhaled loudly down the table. "Well, isn't that just great. You'd think he could have said something to me."

"What do you mean, said something to you?" Ginny fired back, immediately defensive.

"Well we're supposed to be best friends, aren't we? If he'd got his name in the Goblet, he could have at least given me a chance to put mine in too." Ron sounded so deeply sulky, she had a feeling no amount of logic was going to shake off his resentment.

Hermione chimed in now. "You don't seriously think he managed to do it himself, do you? That age circle was cast by _Dumbledore_ , there's no way Harry beat it."

"Well, he got through all those challenges first year, didn't he?" Ron hissed. "They were set by teachers, too."

"Did he do that alone, though?" Hermione shot back. "Do you really think he could do this without our help?"

Ginny looked at him incredulously. "You're being stupid, Ron. Harry would never do that. Aren't you supposed to be his friend?"

"Oh, I see how it is. Should have known you'd side with your 'boyfriend' over your own brother." Ron looked furious now.

Ginny blushed crimson. "He's not my boyfriend, Ronald. And just because I'm not willing to jump to conclusions without even speaking to him doesn't mean I'm choosing him over you. It just means I'm not being a total prat like you." She stood from the table and left the room. Honestly, sometimes Ron's understanding of loyalty was completely backwards.

It wasn't just because she fancied Harry that she didn't think he'd put his name in. She just felt like she knew him better than that. Harry Potter was many things, but she didn't think that vain was one of them.

She made her way to the common room, lost in thought. She knew he liked adventure well enough, but the Triwizard Tournament wasn't just adventure, it was danger. Then again, he wasn't exactly danger averse either.

Still, though, Harry's dangerous adventures were always for noble reasons. She just refused to believe that he signed himself up for this in secret. Besides, as Hermione had said, it wasn't exactly simple magic getting past Dumbledore's age line.

The common room was getting louder now, as more Gryffindors returned from the feast. Most were somewhere between shocked and thrilled at having a champion from their own house. Even Fred and George seemed to be convinced that Harry had put his name in.

Not feeling in the mood for celebrating, Ginny decided to head to her room. She knew sleep would be hard to find that night, but she also knew that there was no way Ron would be able to keep his mouth shut when Harry made his way back, and she really didn't feel like being present for the argument that was sure to follow. At least Hermione was still there for Harry, because as much as she wanted to be, she knew that her company would do very little to make him feel better, and would probably only make Ron even angrier.

Shaking her head at the terrific mess they'd all found themselves in, she left the room, hoping that somehow by morning everything would seem more reasonable.

 **You know the drill, I'll be back next Monday. (For real this time.) Have a good week!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello, everybody! I told you this one would be posted on time, and I am a woman of my word. (Usually.) Keeping a little closer to the book this time, because I don't want to venture too far from the canon. Hope you enjoy!**

 **Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Part Two: Takes place when Harry is looking for a date to the Yule Ball.**

Oh, Ron. Even if he was a prat, he was still her brother and she had to feel bad for him. No one deserved to feel humiliated in front of someone they liked.

Still, a part of her couldn't help but think he deserved it. After all that he'd teased her about Harry, maybe making an ass out of himself in front of Fleur Delacour would teach him a lesson.

As if her thoughts had summoned him, Harry walked in through the portrait hole. He looked around the room, and, spying Ron, made his way over. "What's up, Ron?" His voice sounded confused and vaguely distressed at the miserable look on his best friend's face. Ginny fought back a smile.

"Why did I do it?" Ron burst out. "I don't know what made me do it!"

Harry looked baffled. "What?"

"He – er – just asked Fleur Delacour to go to the ball with him." She tried not to enjoy the shock on Harry's face. As ridiculous as she had been around him over the years, at least he'd never looked at her like that about _her_ one-sided crush.

"You _what?_ "

"I don't know what made me do it! What was I playing at? There were people – all around – I've gone mad – everyone watching!" He seemed too distressed to put together complete sentences. Maybe this was worse than she thought. She was a bad sister for laughing. "I was just walking past her in the entrance hall – she was standing there talking to Diggory – and it sort of came over me – and I asked her." He let out a pitiful moan and sank his head in his hands. She felt herself starting to smile again. She was definitely a bad sister. "She looked at me like I was a sea slug or something. Didn't even answer. And then – I dunno – I just sort of came to my senses and ran for it."

To his credit, Harry looked deeply sympathetic and not at all amused. "She's part veela." He explained. "You were right – her grandmother was one. It wasn't your fault, I bet you just walked past where she was turning on the old charm for Diggory and got a blast of it – but she was wasting her time. He's going with Cho Chang."

How did he know that? Like he'd read her mind, the answer came. "I asked her to go with me just now and she told me."

Well. That was… Well.

It wasn't like she should be surprised. Harry'd never led her on, she knew he wasn't interested. Just because he talked to her a bit more lately didn't mean anything. There was no reason for her to feel like this, she told the knot building in her stomach. She hadn't even expected him to ask her. If he did, she'd have to say no anyway, she was already going with Neville. Cho was exactly the kind of girl she should expect Harry to like. She was nice, smart, pretty, and to top it off, she was the Ravenclaw seeker. Anyone could see they were well suited.

"This is mad," Ron said suddenly, making her jump. She'd forgotten he was there. Horrible sister. "We're the only ones left who haven't got anyone," he continued. "Well, except Neville. Hey – guess who he asked? _Hermione!_ "

This seemed to take Harry's mind off his heartbreak. Lucky him, she thought tartly. " _What?_ "

"Yeah, I know! He told me after Potions! Said she's always been really nice, helping him out with work and stuff – but she told him she was already going with someone. Ha! As if! She just didn't want to go with Neville…. I mean, who would." Ron also seemed energized by the new subject, and her sympathy for him evaporated in an instant.

"Don't! Don't laugh – " She snapped at him.

Before she could get any farther, Hermione came in and joined them. "Why weren't you two at dinner?"

Since the boys were too busy laughing it up at poor Neville, she took it upon herself to answer. "Because – oh shut up laughing, you two – because they've both just been turned down by girls they asked to the ball." It may not have been the kindest way to say it, but they deserved it. And at least it stopped them laughing.

"Thanks a bunch, Ginny," Ron said bitterly.

Hermione looked rather smug at this. "All the good-looking ones taken, Ron? Eloise Midgen starting to look quite pretty now, is she? Well, I'm sure you'll find someone _somewhere_ who'll have you." Ginny felt a surge of fondness for Hermione.

Ron, on the other hand, had a calculating look on his face. "Hermione, Neville's right – you _are_ a girl…."

"Oh well spotted."

"Well – you can come with one of us!" Ron burst out, looking proud of his creative problem solving. Boys.

"No, I can't," snapped Hermione.

"Oh come on, we need partners, we're going to look really stupid if we haven't got any, everyone else has…"

A blush rose on Hermione's cheeks. "I can't come with you because I'm already going with someone."

Harry, she noticed, had wisely kept his mouth shut during this who exchange.

Ron, on the other hand, had never been particularly wise. "No, you're not! You just said that to get rid of Neville!"

"Oh _did_ I?" Hermione looked ready to spit fire, and at the moment she wasn't particularly inclined to help Ron out of his mess. "Just because it's taken _you_ three years to notice, Ron, doesn't mean no one _else_ has spotted I'm a girl!"

Ron paused for a moment, then grinned. "Okay, okay, we know you're a girl. That do? Will you come now?"

"I've already told you!" Hermione spat "I'm going with someone else!" With that, she turned on her heel and stormed off.

"She's lying," Ron said confidently as she walked away.

"She's not," Ginny replied softly.

He spun to look at her with his eyes narrowed. "Who is it, then?"

"I'm not telling you, it's her business."

Ron did not look happy about this. "Right, this is getting stupid. Ginny, _you_ can go with Harry, and I'll just – "

Oh, Merlin. Go with Harry? And he wasn't even objecting? She could just go with Harry? Just like that? She let herself think about it, just for a fraction of a second. Spinning around the room in beautiful dress robes in the arms of _Harry Potter_.

Then she made herself snap back to reality. She could never be cruel enough to cancel on Neville now, not when he's looked so desperate when he asked her.

"I can't," she said, feeling her face go scarlet. "I'm going with – with Neville. He asked me when Hermione said no, and I thought … well … I'm not going to be able to go otherwise, I'm not in fourth year." Except that wasn't true. Because if Neville hadn't asked her, apparently she would've gotten to go with Harry. She felt the misery seep through her. It was one thing to accept that she'd probably never have a chance with him, but another thing entirely to have a perfect chance handed to her on a silver platter and to have to say no. She felt like her heart was breaking, melodramatic as that may be. "I think I'll go have dinner now."

As she walked out the portrait hole, she heard Harry call out to Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown. She had a pretty good guess what it was about. Damn it. Damn Neville for asking her and making her say no to _Harry bloody Potter_ , damn Ron for never bringing it up sooner, and damn Harry for sitting there so casually, like the idea of taking her had never even crossed his mind. The whole bloody thing was unfair.

She felt tears well at her eyes, but she blinked them back. She was not going to cry over some stupid dance and some stupid boy who didn't even like her like that anyway. She would not do it. She paused in the hall, took a deep breath, and set off for dinner.

 **Alright, well, that does it for today then. Have a great week, see y'all next Monday.**


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